Hidden Words: Sequel to New Year
by canisa
Summary: [complete] Killua Centric: sequel to "New Year" During Greed Island Arc


Title: Hidden Words -- sequel to "New Year"  
  
Author: Canisa  
  
Pairing: Killua + Gon, borderline friendship and shounen ai  
  
Warning: attempted sap and plot  
  
-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-  
  
"Go to the bookstore across the street." Not wasting any of his breath, the man instructed as soon as he opened the door. His lazy hazel eyes fell on me with a hint of belittlement and his muscle-filled body jammed the doorframe with intent to intimidate. "Use this card at the cashier and you will be taken to the exam center."  
  
I flashed a smile, not particularly minding his thought of me. The last few days with the Navigators had put my mood in high spirit. It was very entertaining. We had been exchanging stories about Gon. They told me how they tried to trick Gon and his companions and I narrated our adventure together in York Shin City and Greed Island.  
  
Even though Gon was not around, I felt I was a step closer to knowing him. It was amazing consider how Gon could shorten the distance between other people by his influence, not to mention the distance between magic beasts and me.  
  
After all, the magic beasts were creatures of seclusion. They may have valued their family unit but the complete lack of sense of community caused they be away even from their own kinds. It was no wonder that there were very few of them in the world. Their uniqueness had often made them haughty and proud. Their intelligence turned them into tricksters.  
  
It was unthinkable to see the social side of the magic beasts. Yet, I had drank and laughed under their hospitality. Gon had done the impossible. He had transformed the magic beasts.  
  
"Yo, kid, you want the card or not?"  
  
I eyed at the man, slight annoyance buried underneath my cool smile. Suddenly he was very much like the Navigator that had guided me from the last Hunter Exam. It was the same arrogance, the same belittling tone. My muscle tensed briefly before I forced to relax into a shrug. "My bad." I said cheerfully as I took the offering card.  
  
The man snared. "Take my word and just go back to your mama, kid." The man leaned forward, casting a shadow on me. "There are over thousand people that qualified for this year's Hunter Exam. Don't play a grown up's game, Kid." He stressed the last word before he pulled back and turned to close the door.  
  
That was the last straw.  
  
"Yo, fat man. Let me tell you something that no one else in the world knows....."  
  
The man turned abruptly, his eyes were flamed with anger. "What did you call me? You little...."  
  
I did not even bother to use Nen. My clawed fingers snatched his neck easily, pulling his face down to my level. I looked into him and leered. "You want to know what happen to the Navigator up the North side last year?" My eyes narrowed. The corner of my mouth lifted.  
  
The man's face turned into a shade of unhealthy red as he struggled to breathe. His eyes were now bulging with fear.  
  
I whispered into his ears. "You could try to look for his right arm beneath his cabin." I released him, letting him dropped on the floor heavily.  
  
He coughed, desperately taking in air to fill his lungs. But when our eyes met, he ducked immediately and crawled back into his room.  
  
I chuckled, watching his former ego reduced to nothing but the size comparable of that of a mouse. "You should consider yourself lucky." I muttered before I started to descend down the stairs. "The me in the past would have sent you to meet up with that poor soul instead."  
  
Gon had done the impossible. He had transformed me.  
  
-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*  
  
The bookstore was packed with people. But I doubted that they were Hunter Exam contestants. They were just normal people going on with their normal daily business  
  
I did not envy their life. I used to but not any more. I had found something more precious than any of the treasure my family owned.  
  
I looked around the store, looking for stuff to buy so that I can use the cash card and find out where the Hunter Exam Center is. But the books did not interest me. I had played all the video games in the store that there was no point for me to buy them. The CDs and DVDs equally held no meanings.  
  
And then it hit me. Perhaps I could buy a gift for Gon. But then as soon as I started going down the aisles, I realized that I don't really know what Gon wanted. I knew that he wanted to find his father. Other than that, I don't even know his taste. The guy was a total country kid, and his room was bare of books so that I really doubt that reading was his favorite. Come to think of it, he mentioned that he was the only kid on Whale Island and that fox-bear thing and the rest of animals were pretty much his only friends.  
  
Hum, perhaps I could buy him a picture book of all the animals.  
  
With the goal in mind, I walked briskly to the picture book section and started to flip through the books. As I scanned through the books, my mood became darker and darker. I mean, those picture were nice but the animals just looked... two dimension.  
  
Duh. Of course it is 2-D. They were pictures after all. Hum... perhaps I should get a fox bear stuff animal instead.  
  
Quickly walking toward the little stuff animal section, I easily picked up the one that I was looking for. But to my dismay, it just didn't feel right. The fur was not soft enough. The eyes lacked the liveliness that a real animal possessed. The weight was too light. The claws were not sharp enough to leave an indention on my skin.  
  
"Gon would probably feel the same thing...." I muttered and tossed the stuff animal back.  
  
Desperately needing new ideas, I flipped through the magazines. And then a picture of a person fishing in the river jumped from the pages.  
  
Hum, Gon loves fishing too. Maybe I could buy him one of those expensive fishhook things. Or maybe a gold one or something really cool.  
  
Suddenly feeling that this was an indeed a terrific idea, my energy came back. I looked around the bookstore and then suddenly realized that this WAS indeed a BOOKSTORE. There was no way that I could find a fancy fishhook here!  
  
I sighed and looked up. The clock on the wall said it was 11:56pm. I have less than 5 minutes to get to the Exam Center.  
  
Given up, I walked toward the cashier, half-heartedly picking up random books as I went. I put down all the books on the cashier and presented the card and waited for the instruction.  
  
To tell the truth, I had never really shopped before. The only thing I ever bought was the chocolate balls. It was an accident how I discovered it when my father had left me in the celestial tower. As soon as it melted in my mouth, I could not deny myself of the sweets for it was the only thing I could taste in my mouth. I guess that all those poison ingestion training in the past had practically killed every other taste bud on my tongue. The ability to taste the pure sweetness was the only thing left intact.  
  
Gon had never really understood how I could blow off 4 million janins on chocolate balls and I could never really tell him the true reason.  
  
It was because I had lied to him.  
  
When I dined with his family back in Whale Island, I had pretended thatI was as normal as I appeared to be. Even though I could not taste anything Mito-san had made, I had to pretend that I enjoyed the meal. To me, eating anything other than pure sweetness only meant the motion of chewing and swallowing. At the dinner table, I even faked that I hated red peppers just to accent my made-believe character. In truth, I tasted nothing in that meal.  
  
But I did not tell him. Not that I wanted to lie to him purposely. Not that I didn't trust him. It was only because all I wanted was to be with him, like a normal kid.  
  
-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*  
  
It was just as the fat man had said. There were over thousand of people here at the Hunter Exam. But strangely, even though there were so many people here, I couldn't help but feel my isolation. It was a very unnerving feeling. Since when did I become such a needy person? I searched, looking for familiar faces. The me in the past would not have done this. The last time, I came here to relieve my boredom. I sought no companionship. It was only a way for me to kill time, to escape from my destiny. Yet this time, I searched. I was searching for a face I knew deep inside that I would not be able to see here.  
  
"I see you didn't pass either, Killua."  
  
I walked passed the three brothers, barely acknowledging their presence if not for their loud and annoying voices.  
  
They were not he. No one here was Gon.  
  
I became restless. The idea of coming here to take the Hunter Exam was suddenly less appealing. Earlier I had not feel this strongly because of the chatting with the Navigators about Gon. But now, I felt like a bird trapped in a cage, remembering the sky that had once embraced me with total acceptance and wanting to escape back to that comfort.  
  
But then I felt the weight of my necklace. The wooden figure of the SD forms of us with arms on each other's shoulders dangled in front of my jersey. To put my mind at ease, I fingered this Christmas Gift that Gon had given me**, remembering the promise of passing the Hunter Exam. Its presence whispered a song that calmed my soul. I retreated into a corner of the room. I squatted down. Eyes closed. I no longer need to seek the phantom, for I already knew where I could find what truly wanted.  
  
What I need to do right now, is to endure and finish this exam as soon as possible so that I could go back to him.  
  
No matter what the cost is.  
  
"In two hours, each one of you has to beat at least 5 opponents and get the number cards in order to advance...."  
  
I opened my eyes in a snap. I carefully put my bag safely aside in the corner and stood up. I scanned the room.  
  
There were one thousand and twenty eight contestants present.  
  
It could not come any easier than this.  
  
How unfortunate for them. Well..... there's always next year. I will just make sure that I don't over use my power.  
  
Gon has rubbed off on me too much. I had been too kind lately.  
  
-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*  
  
"KILLUA!!!!"  
  
Gon welcomed me with open arms as I descended down the stairs and back into Greed Island. "Yo." I waved, equally happy to see him.  
  
"Did you pass?" Gon asked eagerly.  
  
I flashed a smile. "Of course! The exam was easy!" I neglected to tell him that I had disabled all of contestants in the first exam so that I could pass the thing quickly. Somehow I did not think good old Gon would approve my method.  
  
Gon was visibly pleased. And then he noticed my necklace. Though his wooden figure was hidden underneath my jersey, I could see he pretty much guessed that I was wearing it. I could swear I saw a very faint blush before he shifted his attention to my big bag of books.  
  
"Ah, these?" I handed the bag to him. "Books. I had to buy them to find out location of the Hunter Exam. You want them?"  
  
Gon, as I expected, shook his head quickly. He stuck out his tongue. "I don't like reading. Mito-san always tried to make me read those things but I always hid in the forest so that she could not find me."  
  
"Thought so." I laughed and tossed the books to Bisuke. "There are some romance books in there!"  
  
"How old do you think I am?" Bisuke fingered through the teenager romance books with disinterest.  
  
"Too young to read those romance novels?" I teased.  
  
And before I knew it, I was already flying in the air, with a big bruising red mark underneath my chin.  
  
-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*  
  
"Nah... Killua, are you still awake?"  
  
"Huh? Yeah. I am still up." I rubbed my eyes lazily, turning my body toward Gon's direction. In truth, I was already asleep. Bisuke had put me straight back to training schedule. Though I missed training with Gon, I felt like my muscles were no longer mine. My bones were aching painfully. I really had it easy when I was in the outside world.  
  
Gon pouted. "Liar... you were asleep. You were kicking your blanket and just earlier, your mouth was so wide that you could have swallowed a lizard and not knowing it!"  
  
I laughed, fully awake now. "Yeah.. yeah.. I was asleep but I am awake now. What do you want, Gon?"  
  
Gon glanced over at Bisuke briefly, making sure she was asleep before he suddenly shifted his body deeper into his blanket, leaving only his eyes and nose. "Killua..." His voice muffled underneath the blanket. "Did you like it?" He eyed at me shyly with anticipation.  
  
"What?" I pretended to be dumb. I have always seen his determined side. His being shy was kind of fun.  
  
"Ah.. never mind... don't worry about it." He suddenly ducked into the blanket and turned his back to me.  
  
I was surprised. He had always been a persistent person. I had thought that we would have tossing words back and forth and stuff but his retreat was unexpected.  
  
In silence, I thought hard. And then it finally came to me as I remembered the note I had washed out during laundry. Perhaps it was not just a simple Happy New Year or Merry Christmas greeting card. Perhaps Gon had written something else important.  
  
Perhaps it was a question and he was waiting for a reply?  
  
I watched Gon's back. I could not tell what he was thinking.  
  
The campfire danced near at our feet. The burning wood cracked, constituted the only sound in this late hour.  
  
I turned my back on Gon, suddenly feel ashamed to face him. While I was at the outside world, I could not even find a decent gift for him. "Gon." I whispered. "I really like the wooden figure you made me. It was really cool." It was my turn to bury my face underneath the blanket.  
  
There was no sound behind my back except the fire cracking. Gon did not seem to make any movement.  
  
"I am sorry but I couldn't find anything you like while I was outside of Greed Island. I hardly know what you like." My voice became softer and softer. Even I doubted that my voice could be heard. "And I spent all my money on this chocolate hazel nut thing that was soooo good. You wouldn't believe how sweet it was. But.. that's beside the point.... So...My gift for you though... is only a promise..." I swallowed, "I will travel with you... even after finding your father....."  
  
"Did you really mean....."  
  
A hault. A hestation. The tone suddenly changed to a softer and calmer one. "Did you really like that thing I made you?"  
  
I turned around immediately, facing Gon who was now kneeling next to my sleeping bag. His face was red yet bright with joy. My fear of him being mad at me suddenly vanished. "Of course. It was really cool. The best!" I beamed.  
  
"Yokatta [1]....." Gon let out a huge breath. "I was worried because I made it in a rush."  
  
"I am really sorry I don't have anything to give you though...." I said apologetically.  
  
"Don't worry, don't worry!" Gon assured. "I am just really glad you like it."  
  
"... and there's one more thing..." I averted my eyes. "I threw the note along with my short into the laundry...so I don't know what you wrote on the note...."  
  
But Gon did not yell at me.  
  
Instead, he hugged me.  
  
"Gon?" I blushed, feeling his body warmth through the blanket.  
  
Gon released me. "You made a promise with me right?" His eyes twinkled with happiness. "You said you will be with me even after finding Jin."  
  
I nodded.  
  
"Then don't worry about what I wrote." Gon rewarded me with a big smile. "I have received the best gift in the world."  
  
I stared at him as he proceeded to give me another hug. This time, he lingered a bit longer and I could smell his unique scent. It was comforting and peaceful at the same time.  
  
I smiled. I have made a promise that I intend to keep forever.  
  
With all the millions of things that I don't want to do, I finally found something that I truly want for once.  
  
I will never betray you. We will always be together.  
  
-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*  
  
OWARI  
  
NOTE: ** the gift was given to Killua in "New Year" the fic.  
  
[1] "Yokatta" roughly translates as "that's great".. but not  
  
quite.. so I kept the language.. last fic I had attempted "shimatta"  
  
but.... It was a bad translation ("Damn it") so this time, I don't  
  
even want to attempt... hopefully you will understand  
  
Please let me know what you think! Hopefully this fic is not too  
  
sappy  
  
Canisa 


End file.
